updated 06:30 am EDT, Thu October 4, 2012

Google Street View now live on Google Maps web app

Google Street View for Google Maps web app is now live, following reports that the company was going to bring it to its web app. It added the functionality following the debut of Apple's controversial new Maps app for iOS 6 with many users either lamenting the loss of Street View, or looking for a more reliable mapping solution. Users trying to use the Google Maps web app in the same way as they would a native solution will be prompted to add it to their iOS device homescreen when navigating to the site for the first time.

When searching for an address or a location, users will be presented with the usual top down map view. However, a new person-shaped icon appears at the bottom right hand side of the webpage that when tapped on takes users to the familiar Street View service. While perhaps not quite as slick or seamless as using the old Google-powered Apple Maps app in previous versions of iOS, most users will find it an adequate replacement until Google releases a new native maps app for iOS.

Apple's decision to switch to its own Maps app, powered by 'Tom Tom and others' came with the company still having one year remaining on its licensing deal with Google. Apple reportedly was forced into making the decision to drop Google's services as Google was unwilling to add its turn-by-turn navigational capabilities to the superseded Apple Maps app. However, in doing so, it was replaced by an inferior map data set that Apple hopes to improve based on crowd-sourced data and error reporting.

People rag on Apple about their new Maps app but Google's street view only works in certain areas (when viewed through the web). Most areas in the pacific northwest don't have street view except in the large cities and then only in certain areas. It doesn't matte which application you use, doing a maps application is not easy and takes a long time to get to every street in the world. Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day.

I'm willing to bet the spotty street view is due to Google having to convert the POS flash version to whatever html panoramic they're using. So if that's the case, they have the data; it's just a matter of time until they cover everywhere they've captured the street views.